Supporting apparatus for pathological conditions requiring a sitting position.



'No. 810,580. Y PATENTED' JAN. 23, 1906.

D. G. STORMS.

SUPPORTING APPARATUS FOR PATHOLOGIOAL CONDITIONS REQUIRING A SITTING POSITION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26,1905.

" Immnfnr,

DOUGLAS GERAGHTY STORMS, OF HAMILTON,

CANADA.

SUPPORTING APPARATUS FOR PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS REQUIRING A SITTING POSITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed July 26, 1905. Serial No. 271,281.

To all whom, it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, DOUGLAS GERAGHTY STORMS, M. D., a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, and a resident of N o. 53 Bay street south, in the city of Hamilton, in the county of Wentworth, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented a certain new and useful Supporting Apparatus for Pathological Conditions Requiring a Sitting Position; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

The invention relates to a very handy, convenient, and effective mechanical device attached to a bedstead for placing a patient in a sitting position to facilitate the drainage of pus after abdominal operations-such as abscess, appendicitis, gastroenterostomy, &c., to relieve pressure in old cardiac cases where there is difficulty of breathingand also as a means of counter extension in fractures;-and the advantages of the said supporting device -may be stated as follows: First, it Is convenient to the nurse and attendant and comfortable to the patient; second, it is an aid to the action of the bowels; third, after operation for appendicitis the ease of drainage prevents poisonous matter from reaching danger area; fourth, patients maintain a sitting position without any effort or distress; fifth, in fractures counter extension is maintained without the possibility of the patient slipping down in the bed; sixth, the apparatus can be applied to any width of bed, single or double.

The device consists of a corset, preferably of leather, easily adjusted to any size of patient, and provided with an adjustable seat for equalizing pressure, and a back-rest for the comfort of the patient to lean upon, the whole suspended from a wooden frame by straps and buckles and the frame secured firmly by clamping devices to a bedstead.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front tached from its frame. of the same attached to its frame by adjustable straps. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the corset. Fig. 4 is a section of frame, showing how it is attached to a bed-frame.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A A represent the two halves of a corset, made, preferably, of any heavy leather or its equivalent material and view of the corset de- Fig. 2 is a front view formed in two halves, each having an armhole a, with a pad I) for each armpit. Each side of the corset is provided with a series of eyelet-holes c at front and rear margins for lacing the said sides together. It is also provided with a tongue (1, of leather, at front and back, sewed to each side, respectively, and made to cross under the lacings e to prevent irritation from the latter on the patients body. The entire corset will be padded and lined so as to afford comfort to the patient when placed therein. A block of wood f is placed at right angles across the top of each shoulder and covered with leather sewed around the block to retain it in place. A metal ring 9 is secured to each shoulder blockf by curved rivets h h.

Attached to each side of the corset are three straps i 'i i, which engage with buckles y' j y', attached to a seat B, formed of a horizontal bottom and two upright sides. The said seat can thus be made adjustable, as desired.

The corset and seat are supported in a frame consisting of two uprights Z Z, united at the top with a cross-bar m, made to pass through slots it near the top of the said uprights Z. A vertical saw cut 2 is made in the uprights Z Z from the slots n n downward about five inches, and a threaded bolt 0 made to pass through each upright Z under the cross-bar m, and the uprights tightened on the cross-bar by a tail-nut p, screwed on the threaded end of the said bolt. Thus it will be seen that the width of the uprights can be adapted to the size of any bed. Two movable iron loops g g are placed on the cross-bar m, their upper portion resting in any of the series of small notches 1', formed in the upper surface of the said cross-bar. A short strap 8, with a buckle t at the lower end and a snap-hook u at the other, is hooked onto each of the cross-bar loops 9 g, and a long strap 12, with snap-hook w attached at the lower end, is snapped into each of the rings g, and the upper end of each of the said straps engage With the buckles, respectively, of the short straps s 8. Thus the entire corset and seat can be adjusted to the proper height to suit the requirements of the patient.

It will be observed that a back-rest will be attached to the seat B by a strap and buckle y and the said back-rest be padded and the upper part of it made to rest against the head of the bed.

It will be observed that the seat B is for the purpose of sharing the pressure with the armpits, and the said seat is made of the same material as the corset or jacket, and is doubled on the bottom so as to retain its shape and still be easy to sit upon.

The frame is held in an upri ht position to the head of the bed by hooked bolts .2 2, made to surround the posts 3 of the bed and tightened by thumb-nuts a a, as shown at Fig. 4.

The operation of the device may be described as follows: After a patient has been operated upon for any of the causes heretofore mentioned it is absolutely necessary that the pus be drained away, which can only be done properly when in a sitting position, but in the said position they are too weak without a support. The frame being adjusted to a bedstead and the corset and seat supported by the straps to the cross-bar and adjusted, the front lacings of the corset are undone and the patient placed on the adjustable seat, and the front of the corset laced over the patient, who rests against the padded back-rest, the arms through the armholes and the pads under the armholes relieving'the pressure of the body and assist in making the patient comfortable in a sitting position during the drainage of pus, which is so essential after an operation.

Having thus described my device and its advantages, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A supporting apparatus for the purpose specified, consisting of a laced corset preferlie-l 810,580

ably of leather or like material, a pad secured under each armhole, a seat secured to the corset, a back-rest attached to the seat, a block attached to each shoulder, a ring secured to each block, adjustable straps attaching the said corset-rings to an adjustable cross-bar of a frame, for supporting a patient in a sitting position for the drainage of pus after an abdominal operation, &c.

2. A supporting apparatus for pathological conditions requiring a patient to be placed in a sitting position after an operation, consisting of a leather jacket or corset formed in two vertical halves, each half having eyelet-holes for lacings, a tongue attached to each half to extend under the lacings, a pad under each armhole, a block on each shoulder, and a ring attached to each block, straps attached to each side of the jacket or corset, a soft lining attached to the inside of the corset, a seat formed with bottom and two sides, the said sides having a series of buckles attached thereto to engage with the straps affixed to the corset, a padded backrest attached to the seat, the corset and seat held in an upright position by adjustable straps attached to the corset and to an adjustable cross-bar of a frame secured by any mechanical means to a bedstead, all constructed substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Hamilton, Ontario, June 16, 1905.

rouems GERAGHTY STORMS. In presence of- F. M. LAIRD, WM. BRUCE. 

